Regret
by Polo Mint Midget
Summary: TCO are trying to celebrate Little Chris' fifth birthday, but are finding it hard to do, just like they do each year--they still can't let go of the young man who died on the day of Chris' birth, especially Leo. (Complete)
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1  
  
Leo stood at the door watching his two sons playing together. Piper gently tapped him on the shoulder. "Honey, Phoebe's here." She said.   
"Okay sweetie, I'll tell the boys to come inside. Wyatt! Chris! Auntie Phoebe's here." He called out to them. They followed Leo into the living room. Phoebe was just putting her bags down.  
"Leo! Oh god it's great to see you!"   
"You too Phoebe" he laughed   
"Hey, and how are my two favourite nephews?" she said as a boy of 6 years old with blonde hair gave her a hug. Wyatt stepped back and Chris stepped forward.   
"Auntie Phoebe! I missed you." He said as he hugged her.   
"And I missed you too, sweetie, by the way" she said with a smile "Isn't it someone's birthday today" Phoebe asked him as she pulled a wrapped present out from her bag.   
"Thanks Auntie Phoebe!" He said, looking at the box his eyes lit up.   
"Chris, you and Wyatt go put it with the other presents" Piper said, turning to Phoebe and hugging her as they ran off.   
"I'm so glad you're back Phoebe"   
"Yeah, me too. I missed all of you guys and the manor, by the way, where's Paige?"   
"She's at Magic School, she just had some papers to correct. She'll be home this evening. Where's Jason?" she asked. "He's still in Florida with Penny. They'll be here on Wednesday. It'll be so great to have the family back together again."   
"I couldn't agree more." Piper smiled as she and Phoebe left the room and walked into the kitchen.   
"Nice tan by the way" she laughed looking in her sisters direction, Phoebe playfully nudged her sister in the arm as they walked off.  
  
Leo sat by the stairs, lost in thought.   
_"Chris..."   
"Hey..." Leo, fighting tears, rushes to his side.   
"It's okay, I'm here now, I'm here. You just hold on, okay? Just hold on, don't you dare give up."   
"You either." Then, Chris stops moving, stops breathing. Leo, desperate to stop this, grabs hold of his son, trying to will him back to life,   
"No, please! No!!" A beat later, Chris' body fades away in Leo's arms, leaving him with...nothing.  
_  
"Leo?" Phoebe came walking up the stairs and saw tears in his eyes.  
  
To be continued...


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2  
  
"Leo?" Phoebe came walking up the stairs and saw tears in his eyes. "Honey, what's wrong?" she asked rushing to his side.  
Leo just stared at her, tears streaming down his face. Phoebe's empathy power kicked in and she looked at him.   
"Chris..." she said looking to the floor. "You want to talk about it?"   
For a moment Leo said nothing and then nodded his head.   
"Okay but not here. I don't want Piper to worry." He said taking Phoebe's hand and orbing out.  
  
They orbed in on the Golden Gate Bridge. Chris's spot.   
"Leo I'm so sorry-"she didn't get to finish her sentence.   
"Don't. I know Phoebe. It's hard, really hard. Seeing little Chris grow up. Five years...five years to the day, the day he died and the day he was born. And I don't know whether to be happy or sad. He just died right there in my arms and there was nothing I could do to stop it, I said I'd protect him and I failed," he sobbed.   
"I said I'd always be there for him, I never got to say goodbye to him or that I loved him, he just faded away."   
"Leo, he knew. I'm sure that he knew."   
"When he first came here, I treated him so badly. I doubted and hated my own son."   
"But sweetie you didn't know about him then ..."   
"That's beside the point. He told me how bad a father I was to him, and what if I make that mistake again?" "But you won't, ever since Chris was born you've always been there for him- always. You're one of the best fathers a kid could have and Chris loves you."  
Leo gazed down into the traffic below. He never let Piper know how he felt about what had happened to Chris. The night that he told her how Chris had died, she cried. And he knew then that he had to be strong- for her.   
"I know how you feel, literally." Phoebe said with a slight smile referring to her empathy power.   
"You'll be okay" was all she could say. She had never seen her brother in law like this.   
"Thanks Phoebe, I'm glad that I had someone to talk too. You don't know how much this means to me."   
"It's okay, so, I think we'd better head back to Chris party," she said.  
"Oh God you're right, I didn't realise the time." He said smiling, he took Phoebes hand and orbed out.  
  
Thanks to Terra Fea, Nautica7mk, cherry7up56, AthleticCharmedOne, gabwr , Darcy101and Amber for the reviews. I'll try to post another chapter soon.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3  
  
Leo and Phoebe orb back into the manor.   
"Where have you guys been? I was just about to call you." Said Piper who sounded worried.   
"Um...we" Leo started.   
"We went to went to back to my place, I forgot something- really important, couldn't wait." Phoebe lied. "Okay, Leo I was going to ask you to go get Paige... I think she's forgotten about the party."  
"Ok, I'll get right on it." He said.   
A noise came from the stairway and a door appeared.   
"It's okay, I'm here!" said Paige, running out the door. She came out too fast and tripped and fell down the steps, as Wyatt came out of the living room.   
"Ouch." She said nursing a bump on her head. Wyatt giggled.   
"Oh, honey are you okay?" asked Phoebe.   
"I'm fine, fine. Phoebe! You're back! How are you? How's my little niece? Is she here?" she said excitedly, hugging her sister.  
"She's great! She's with Jason now, they'll be here tomorrow."   
"Oh good! It's been a while since I last saw her; I bet she's grown! Um, Leo do you think you could – you know?" Paige asked referring to her head.   
"Oh, sorry, sure no problem." He placed his hands over Paige's head and healed her.  
"Wyatt sweetie, could you go get Chris?" Piper asked   
"Okay Mommy." Wyatt ran up the stairs.   
"Let's get this party started then!"  
  
Everyone was crowded around the dining room table.   
"Happy Birthday baby." Piper said leaning down to kiss her son.   
"Thanks Mommy!"   
"Happy Birthday little guy." Leo hugged his son and looked into his beautiful green eyes. Leo sighed.  
"Hey, 5 big years Chris. Someone's getting old." Paige teased.   
"Aunt Paige. If I'm getting old you must be-" "Chris!" Piper warned cutting off Chris's sentence, as Chris and Wyatt laughed.   
"I'll go get the video and popcorn." Phoebe said. Paige and Piper and Leo followed her into the kitchen. Meanwhile Chris and Wyatt had gone into the living room. A demon shimmered in behind Chris.  
"Mommy, Daddy!" he cried as the demon grabbed him. The Charmed Ones and Leo came rushing in as the demon shimmered out - with Chris. Wyatt was crying and had his shield up.   
"Oh my god..." Piper said in shock.  
  
Thanks guys so much for the reviews. Sorry about the chapters being so short! I'll post more tomorrow. Plus I know how the end is going to work out. Just getting there is harder.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4  
  
"I can't believe I let this happen!" Piper shouted, pacing back and forth in the attic. Paige was rapidly turning pages in the book. Leo was comforting Wyatt and Phoebe was hunched over a map scrying with the chain of the crystal wrapped around Chris's watch.   
"Piper, it's not your fault." Paige said trying to calm her older sister down.   
"What do you mean it's not my fault? I should have been watching him."   
"You didn't know a demon was going to attack. On the subject of demon, Paige, did you find anything?" "No, not yet Phoebe. But I'm sure we'll find it. Any luck with the scrying?"   
"Nothing yet"   
Wyatt and Leo were talking.   
"Dad, will Mommy find Chris?"   
"Sure she will, has she ever let you down before?" he replied.   
Wyatt shook his head. "No."   
"Well she not going to let you down now either. Now will you be a good little boy for Grandpa?"   
"Yes Dad." Leo orbed out, and a minute later orbed back in with Victor.   
"Hey, how's my little guy?" he asked, tickling Wyatt.   
"Stop Grandpa, I'm fine." Wyatt said giggling.   
"Dad, are you sure you don't mind watching him for a while?" Phoebe asked.   
"No, it's no problem, you guys do what you have to do to get Chris back." And with that, Victor took Wyatt out of the attic and downstairs.   
"I can't let this happen. I won't let this happen. I'm not going to loose him again!" Piper suddenly cried out. Leo stood up and put his arms around his wife, drawing her into a hug.   
"Piper, honey, it's okay we'll find him. He'll be okay. I promise you, you won't loose him again" Leo comforted his wife with these words, hoping to bring some comfort to himself too.   
"I've got it!" Paige said pointing to the book. "Zeric, to cut a long story short, darklighter powers and there's a vanquishing potion."   
"Great, Paige you set to work on the potion. Piper everything will be fine."   
"Really?" she replied with noticable sarcasam in her voice "So how are you two going to vanquish this Zeric, when you don't know where he..." Piper watches as the crystal drops on the map "...is. Paige... hurry up with that potion!"  
  
"My plan is working," Zeric smiled evilly, "The Charmed Ones and their whitelighter are going to come straight here for the boy. And when they do..." he glanced around at the group of demons and Darklighters, and then at Chris, "We'll be ready for them..."

Thanks for the reviews people!


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5  
  
Piper and Leo orbed into a deserted grassy area near the sea just outside San Francisco, shortly followed by Paige and Phoebe.  
  
"This is were the crystal dropped Phoebe? Are you sure?" Piper asked.  
  
"Yes, but I agree, it does look a bit suspicious."  
  
Paige looked at her surroundings. To her left, she saw a small opening in the cliff beside the field.  
  
"Uh, guys, what about over there?" she pointed in the direction of the opening. They walked towards it and went inside. Small, moss covered stone steps led them further down underground.  
  
"Chris?!" Piper called out frantically into the darkness. "Chris it's Mommy. Are you there, honey?"  
  
Paige watched Piper, and even in the darkness she could see the tears in her sisters eyes. She looked back at Leo; he didn't even notice her staring at him. His green eyes just glazed over, gazing deep into the darkness. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Phoebe watching them too. Paige knew how hard it must be for both Leo and Piper, after all, it had been 5 years since Chris had died. She knew that they tried to cover up their sadness every year for little Chris's sake.  
  
"But keeping it all bottled up isn't a good choice either" she thought. But seeing as she was deep in thought, Paige wasn't looking where she was going and slipped on one of the steps, tumbling down into the darkness, landing with a thud far below them.  
  
"Paige!" Phoebe called out trying to quickly get down to help her sister, but also trying not to fall herself, "Are you okay?" Phoebe heard Paige mumbling to herself.  
  
When Piper, Leo and Phoebe reached Paige, they found her trying to sit up.  
  
"Why do I always have to fall? It's always me...twice today, twice!" Paige moaned.  
  
"Well Missy Paige you should look where you're going in future." Phoebe said, trying to make light out of the situation, taking Paige's hand and helping her up. "Can you walk?"  
  
"Yeah, the concrete floor broke my fall." She said, looking over at Piper she saw a slight smile form on her face.  
  
"Come on you two." Piper said. "Chris? Chris? It's mommy and daddy!"  
  
Then, a muffled voice called back to them.  
  
"Mommy! Daddy!" Chris called. "Chris!" Piper and Leo said in unison, running towards their son's voice. Piper reached him first and pulled him into a hug. "Oh, Chris are you ok?" she asked her voice full of relief, moving aside to let her husband hug his son.  
  
"Mommy no! It's a ......" Chris trailed off as he, and his family saw several demons shimmer in.  
  
".... Trap." he finished. 


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6  
  
The Charmed Ones and Leo watched as demons continued to shimmer into the cave.  
  
"Uh, Paige...by any chance, do we have enough potion for all of them?" Phoebe whispered to her.  
  
Paige glared at Phoebe. "What do you think?"  
  
Zeric stepped forward out of the crowd of demons. "Ah, the Charmed Ones, finally. Such a. ...Pleasure, to meet you."  
  
"Leo, quickly you and Chris get out of here!" Piper said as calmly as she could.  
  
"What about you, Phoebe and Paige" he asked.  
  
"We'll be fine, we'll look out for Paige, but we need her here, now...GO!"  
  
Leo took Chris' hand and orbed out, but the orbs bounced off of the roof of the cave and Leo landed with Chris in a heap on the floor.  
  
Zeric rolled his eyes in a sarcastic manner. "You hardly expected me to kidnap your kid and then let you all orb in and out as simple as that?" he said and waving his hand, the entrance further up the stairs was magically sealed off.  
  
Piper, Phoebe and Paige stared at the entrance, then Leo and Chris, and then at each other. Piper was the first to speak.  
  
"You son of a...." she started.  
  
"Ah, ah, ah. I wouldn't finish that sentence if I were you..." he said, forming an energy ball in his hand.  
  
"Try me!" she spat. He threw the energy ball at her, but Piper, ready for this, froze it. She raised an eyebrow at him.  
  
"Am I meant to be impressed by that?" he asked. He snapped his fingers and three demons stepped forward and threw three more fireballs at Phoebe, Paige and Piper. Piper, once again froze it. Phoebe levitated out of the way to avoid it, and Paige sent it back to its owner and watched as he erupted in flames.  
  
Zeric glared at them. "You may well be able to defend yourselves, but what about them?" he nodded in the direction of Leo and Chris.  
  
"Don't you dare!" Piper said raising her hands, threateningly.  
  
Zeric laughed and mocked, "I'm so scared, she's raising her hands at me!" He threw an energy ball in the direction of Leo and Chris. Leo quickly grabbed Chris and dived out of the way.  
  
Piper raised her hands and gestured, she blew up two of the demons next to Zeric.  
  
Fireballs, energy balls, and other various forms of these powers were aimed at The Charmed Ones, each of them being cleverly dodged, used against their owners or frozen.  
  
Meanwhile, Leo, trying to get Chris to safety, thought that even though they can't orb _out_ of the cave, maybe they could orb _inside_ the cave. He took Chris' hand and concentrated on the opposite side of the cave. Surrounded by the silver and blue orbs, they arrived safely on the other side of the cave, unnoticed. Leo spotted a small opening, not big enough for him, but good for Chris.  
  
"Chris, will you be a brave little guy and go stay in there for Daddy?" he asked his son.  
  
"But Dad! What about Mommy, Paige and Phoebe? I wanna help too!" he asked.  
  
"Even at 5 he wants to help." he thought, smiling secretly to himself. "No Chris, not this time it's too dangerous." He replied to his son "Please, just do this for me?" he asked Chris.  
  
Chris, looked at his dad and gave in. He climbed into the opening and hid in there. Leo, seeing Chris was safe in there, turned around. He saw that the girls were fighting well.  
  
But he didn't see Zeric step up behind him and shoot him with a darklighter arrow. Leo turned around and fell to the ground and looked up at Zeric. Zeric smiled evilly, aimed at him again, and shot once more. Leo lost all consciousness... 


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7  
  
Leo fell to the ground and lost all consciousness. He was enclosed in darkness. All of a sudden images from his past surrounded him. He tried to concentrate on these images but found it very hard.  
  
"What's going on?" he said, hearing his voice echo through the darkness. An image of him and Piper flashed before him. "Piper..? Honey are you there?" he called out, but no reply came. "Phoebe, Paige? Piper!?" he continued calling. An image of his wedding day appeared before him.

_"We are gathered here today to unite two souls as one. Do you, Leo Wyatt, and Piper Halliwell, join us here of your own free will to acknowledge the eternal bond shared by both of you." Grams asked. _

_"I do." he answered _

_"I do." Piper smiled and looked in Leos eyes. _

_"You may face each other and join hands. Uh, Leo, you may recite your vows." Grams said. _

_"Piper, through all the tears and struggles, I always knew in my heart that we'd make it here. I promise to love and respect you from this point forward as your husband, as my wife, my lover, my friend, and my soul mate. All I am is yours." Leo gazed at her lovingly. _

_"Piper..."Grams began. _

_"Leo, you are the best thing that has ever happened to me. I was afraid that you were too good to be true, that maybe I didn't deserve someone so pure and beautiful and loving as you are. But here we are surrounded by the people that I love the most and I feel so proud, and so blessed to be your wife. Leo, I was born to love you and I always will."_

Leo watched with tears in his eyes as the scene slowly faded away. But before he could even say anything, another appeared.

_"Oh. Is that what I think it is?" Paige asked _

_"Uh, if you're referring to Mr. Winkie between the legs, yes." Phoebe replied. _

_"You mean...I got a boy?" Leo said looked awestruck. _

_"Here you go, mama." Phoebe said, handing Piper the baby. _

_"Hi. Hi, little guy, what are you doing? Look what we did." She smiled looking up at Leo. _

_"I see." He smiled back at her, and the baby. _

_"It's a miracle." Paige whispered _

_"A little miracle." Piper said looking at the tiny baby in her arms _

_"He's beautiful." Phoebe said._

The sound of Phoebe's voice echoed all around Leo, before disappearing completely. Leo looked around. He saw nothing. Another small light began forming in front of him. It grew bigger and bigger until he could once again see himself and Piper, only this time, tears of sadness were streaming down her face

_"How am I supposed to do this alone?" Piper asked Leo. _

_"You have your sisters." He replied, inside his heart was breaking._

_"It's not the same. Will I ever see you again?" _

_"I don't know. I'll always be watching over you." _

_"But you won't be there for Wyatt. You're gonna miss so much." She pleaded with Leo. _

_"I will never leave Wyatt's side. He will always feel my presence. It's not the same as human love, he needs you for that." He promised. _

_"He's got me. And I hope that's enough. But what if it's not?" she cried._

Leo fell to the ground on his knees and sobbed his heart out. He couldn't believe how he treated Piper. "I should have just said no, I didn't want to be an elder, I wanted Piper," he cried. He knew now, why he was seeing all of this. He was dying. There was nothing anyone could do to stop it. Once again light surrounded him, he lifted his head up and watched.

_"Can we see Piper?" Phoebe asked. _

_"Well, maybe just one of you for now." Dr Roberts replied. Phoebe and Paige exchanged a look, both knowing who it should be. _

_Turning to Leo, Phoebe said, "Go, tell her we love her." _

_Leo nods and, holding baby Chris, follows the maternity nurse back in through the double doors, into the recovery room. Piper, lying on a gurney, drained, exhausted, but awake, looks to see Leo and baby Chris coming in. She smiles, silently locking eyes with Leo. He lays Chris onto her chest and, as she holds him, she looks out to the lobby, with Phoebe, holding Wyatt, and Paige, looking back at Piper, emotional, happy, smiling. Piper smiles and turns back to baby Chris smiling at him.  
_  
Leo watched as yet another piece of his life slowly faded away from him. For some reason unknown to him, he had a strange feeling he knew what scene was coming next. He sighed as he watched the scene appear before him.  
  
_Leo stormed passed the golden doors and into the giant hall.  
  
"Leo Wyatt, fellow Elder, please enter the hall of the Wise more graciously next time." The old Elder, Raghnall said.  
  
"There won't be a next time!" he shouted.  
  
"And pray tell, what exactly do you mean by that..?"another Elder asked  
  
"You saw what happened! One of your wonderful fellow Elders murdered my son! And attempted to kill my other!" he roared.  
  
"Your son took a great risk by coming back to this time, he knew what the consequences could be..." another Elder, Mirith started.  
  
"This had nothing to do with Chris' coming back! Gideon murdered him did you hear that? MURDERED! You so-called all knowing, wise people didn't see what he was planning?"  
  
"Leo, if I recall correctly, Gideon had us all fooled, and that includes you, and the Charmed Ones. Even Chris himself." Mirith said  
  
"Don't you dare try to put the blame on me, or the girls for that matter. Or even Chris." He started.  
  
"Leo," Mirith, never really liked Leo in the first place spoke again. "You seem to have forgotten that you committed a great act of evil also..." he said.  
  
"I killed Gideon because he killed and tried to kill my son. An act of great evil had to restore the balance of the universe, and you know that." Leo shouted again.  
  
"Silence!" Said the Elder Raghnall shouted. "Leo, I acknowledge the fact that indeed, a fellow Elder tried to kill and did kill one of your sons, you must also acknowledge that you killed Gideon. Therefore, you have-how do you say it- gotten revenge for what has happened. After-all, several members of the council wished to have you punished, but being the head of the council, I wished you weren't, because a great injustice to you, and your family has been done. . What more can we do..?" he said calmly.  
  
Leo stared up at the Elders. "You can clip my wings." He said.  
  
"Leo, that would be punishing yourself."  
  
"I should punish myself. I was unable to save my son! It was my fault." Leo cried.  
  
The Elders stared at Leo, mostly in a state of shock after all he had said. "I see no reason for you to punish yourself. You are the only Elder here, with a family. I understand that. Nobody else here is knows what you're going through. And also, I see that it was a big mistake to have made you an Elder, when you so rightfully belong with your family." He finished  
  
Leo looked up at the old Elder.  
  
"I hereby, demote you back to a Whitelighter. Your only charges will be the Charmed Ones, so you can spend time with your family."  
  
"But-"interrupted Mirit.  
  
"Silence man!" Raghnall said, and waving his hand, he caused Leo to be surrounded by blue and white orbs.  
  
"Now go. Hopefully, we shall never have to hear of this matter again."  
  
Leo orbed out._  
  
Leo sat there, slightly stunned at what he had said, but also quite proud too. All the lights faded away. And none came after that memory. "I hope the girls are ok.." he thought. "What do you mean, Leo old you fool, you know that they're ok. They probably wiped out the entire cave of demons." He answered himself. He sat there in silence for quite some time. Until all of a sudden, the darkness disappeared and was replaced with a beautiful golden light. He was shocked, but even more shocked when he heard the sound of a familiar voice.  
  
"Hey dad..."


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8  
  
Leo spun around so quickly he nearly fell over. "Chris?!" he asked, staring at his son in amazement and wonder.  
  
Chris grinned and laughed. "Yeah dad, it's me." He smiled and stared at the ground.  
  
Leo looked on in a state of shock. There was the son he hadn't seen in 5 years, standing before him. He wore the same clothes as the day he died - only there was no bloodstain on the front of his shirt. Leo felt tears in his eyes, and it wasn't long before they rolled down his cheeks.  
  
Chris- for once in his life- didn't actually know what to say. He stared straight at the ground. For some reason, he couldn't bring himself to look up. Then, he felt two arms wrap around him and pull him into a hug.  
  
"Dad..." Chris cried onto his fathers shoulder  
  
"Chris, I'm sorry. I'm so sorry."  
  
"Dad it wasn't your fault! It was Gideon's."  
  
"I should have been there to help you..."  
  
"Dad! Listen to me! None of this was your fault! Don't blame yourself anymore please!" Chris pleaded with his father. "You've been blaming yourself for 5 years, and I can't take it anymore!" Chris cried out.  
  
Leo looked at his son, seeing him like this was breaking his heart, and then again seeing him again was mending his already wounded heart. "W-what? You haven't moved on?"  
  
Chris looked away. "No." he mumbled.  
  
"Why?"  
  
"I couldn't! I just couldn't go ok? You guys, you all feel guilty in some way or another, even though it was my destiny to die! I can't move on, because you won't move on!" Chris cried. "I mean, Mom. She feels she should have been there for me more, and that she should have known it was Gideon all along. Paige? Paige wishes she had said something to me when I was dieing, she feels the same as Mom does too. Phoebe, she feels everything. She feels what Mom and Paige feel. And you. You keep blaming yourself! You think you're a bad father, even though you've been great with..." Chris stopped not knowing how to phrase the sentence. "Um...me?" he looked confused but continued. "See dad, I know how you all feel and what you all think. And what you all regret. But you have to stop blaming yourself. For your sake and mine. You know that I love you, and you became the father I always wanted you to be the few weeks before I-I died. And now you're being the best father to...me...that you could possibly be!" Chris stopped, looking somewhat relieved to have said that.  
  
Leo stared at Chris, every word he said sinking in. "Do you really mean that?"  
  
Chris sighed "Dad, would I have said it if I didn't mean it?" he smiled and looked at him in a typical Chris fashion.  
  
"So you've seen everything?" Leo asked.  
  
"Yeah, the day you went to the Elders. I saw you and me on my first birthday" he said, the confused look took over his face again after that sentence "Do you know how confusing this is? It's really strange for me to see me on my first birthday. Did that make sense?" He asked thinking about what he had just said.  
  
Leo smiled. "Yeah, it made perfect sense."  
  
"Good." Chris smiled back and laughed a bit. "And the day Wyatt orbed me into the basement and locked the door when I was two, after Phoebe told us the story about the Woogie? And you came straight away when I called you and got me out? And when you taught me how to orb? That was quite funny from my point of view" Chris grinned.  
  
Leo laughed. "Not from where I was standing, if I remember correctly, you were meant to orb to the attic. You ended up in Antarctica" he stopped and asked "So you've been there, with us, all the time then? After you left?"  
  
"I never left Dad. I'm still there. You just need to remember that."  
  
Leo smiled to himself, but the smile soon faded away. "I guess, I'm not gonna be there for you after-all."  
  
Chris, looked at Leo and shook his head. "It's not you time to go yet Dad."  
  
Leo looked confused. "What do you mean? I'm dead Chris.... aren't I?"  
  
"No. You're not dead, believe me, you're going to be fine." Chris replied  
  
"But how?" he asked, shocked.  
  
Chris grinned, "You'll see soon enough" 


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9  
  
"Piper watch out!" Phoebe called out to her sister above the noise in the cave. Piper turned just and waved her hands just in time to freeze the fireball and inch from her face. She stepped aside and pushed an unaware demon in front of it as it unfroze. She watched as he burst into flames.  
  
Paige was not far from Piper and she was handling the demons expertly, sending arrows and various forms of energy balls back to their senders. She was caught momentarily off guard when Phoebe had called out to Piper, worried about her sister, she turned to look and see if she could help. A demon blinked in behind her and grabbed her by the throat.  
Phoebe, seeing this channelled his power and formed and energy ball in her hand before plunging it into his back.  
  
"Thanks Pheebs!" Paige gasped trying to catch her breath  
  
"Thank later. Vanquish now!" Phoebe replied, sending another channelled energy ball in the direction of some soon to be dead demon.  
  
Chris, intrigued by the sound of the commotion outside his hiding place, peered out and looked around the cave. His eyes fell on the sight of the demon Zeric shimmer in behind Piper. Scared, because his Mom didn't notice, he concentrated on the other side of the cave like he had been thought by Leo and orbed in behind Zeric. He focused, as much as a five year old possibly could, and waved his hand and effortlessly sent Zeric flying across the room.

Piper spun around at the sound of Zeric hitting the wall near her. She looked down and saw Chris looking pretty happy with himself.  
  
"Chris! Did you do that sweetie?" Piper asked looking amazed.  
  
"Uh huh. Mommy, where's Daddy?" he asked, looking around expectantly, wanting to tell Leo what he just did.  
  
"Chris, weren't you with Daddy?" Piper sounded worried.  
  
"No, he told me to wait in this place, and he walked away and I haven't seen him since Mommy" he looked up at Piper.

Piper looked around the cave; she couldn't see Leo anywhere. "Maybe he's trying to find a way out and he was going to get Chris out of there..." she thought, trying not to worry. "Chris, sweetie, will you go back to where you were hiding again? For Mommy?"  
  
Chris sighed and gave in. A look of concentration crossed his face and he orbed out.  
  
Piper smiled, proud of her son, and stared at Zeric on the floor. She glanced around the room and saw the Paige had just vanquished one of the last few demons. Three other shimmered out in fear as Phoebe and Paige advanced on them. Phoebe and Paige turned around and walked over to Piper. Zeric, surrounded by the most powerful witches in the world, looked slightly panicked.  
  
"It wasn't supposed to turn out like this!! That little brat!"  
  
Piper, annoyed by this, froze his body, and unfroze his head.  
  
"Don't you dare call my son a brat" Piper spat and blew up one of his arms. Zeric screamed in pain.  
  
Paige smiled sarcastically. " I think all the other demons would be thrilled to hear that a 5 year old got the better of you in the end. Don't you think?"  
  
"Oh we'll see who has the last laugh. Believe me." He looked up at them, with a glint in his eyes. The freeze wore off.  
  
"What's that supposed to mean?" Phoebe asked wary.  
  
"Just a little something to do with your whitelighter, or should I say; Ex-whitelighter" He grinned and TKed the vanquishing potion at himself. They watched with various looks of shock on their faces as he erupted in flames. Piper was the first to speak.  
  
"Leo! Leo!" she called out. "Oh god, Leo please answer me!" Piper, panicked, ran in all directions looking for him. Phoebe and Paige trailed after her, trying to calm her down. They rounded a corner, and looking down, saw Leo's body on the ground.  
  
"Leo! Oh no, oh please!" she cried, falling to the ground beside him, tears streaming down her face.  
  
Phoebe and Paige looked on in silence, staring at the two arrows that had pierced his chest.  
  
"P-Piper, maybe if we get him home...or take him to the hospital..." Phoebe started.  
  
"No, it's too late..." Piper whimpered. Just then, Chris decided to come out of his hiding place.  
  
"Mommy, is the demon gone?" He asked, but then looked down and saw Leo. "Dad.." he whispered. "Daddy...? Dad wake up. Please?"  
  
Chris and Leo watched the scene unfold from above. Chris closed his eyes and concentrated.  
  
"Paige, I think now would be a good time to say what you're thinking..." he said to himself.


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10

Paige was standing there deep in thought, staring at Leo's body, and a devastated Piper kneeling beside him. Phoebe mistook this for shock and knelt down next to Leo's body.  
  
"Piper, h-he mightn't be dead, I mean you didn't check for a pulse at all did you..."  
  
"For crying out loud Phoebe! Look at him! How on earth could he have survived that!" she shouted, tears streaming down her face. Phoebe reached over and placed two of her fingers over his wrist. She sighed, as she felt nothing. Phoebe was about to say this to Piper when she felt a very faint beat.  
  
"Piper! There's a pulse! I-I felt it." She said, feeling a glimmer of hope.  
  
Piper stared down at Leo and then looked up at Phoebe. "Are you sure, because Phoebe Halliwell, if you're lying to me then I swear...." She trailed off.  
  
Paige hearing this looked up and instead of looking at Leo and her sisters she stared at Chris, whom she found was staring right back at her. When she was looking at him she felt something old, something familiar. Somehow, something seemed slightly different about her nephew.  
  
"Paige...I think it's about time you said what you're thinking" a voice said.  
  
"What? W-who said that?" she asked. She glanced down at Piper and Phoebe to see if they heard it, but it appears they didn't even hear her either.  
  
"Paige, listen to me, there's not much time left for him, and you know what to do..." his voice trailed off.  
  
Paige stayed silent, before the voice registered. "Chris?" she asked.  
  
Chris hesitated to answer her. "Paige, please do this for me and Mom and Wyatt...Do this so I can have a father..." His voice became more distant. "Goodbye Aunt Paige..."  
  
Paige with tears in her eyes whispered. "Goodbye Chris.... Love you!"  
  
"Paige?" Phoebe had called  
  
"Huh?" Paige looked around and her eyes landed back on Little Chris, she smiled slightly at him and he smiled back.  
  
"Paige!" Phoebe almost shouted at her this time. "Snap out of it, we need you to orb Leo to a hospital."  
  
Paige stayed silent for a moment. "That won't work Phoebe." She said.  
  
"Paige, what do you mean it won't work! We haven't got a choice." Phoebe said getting annoyed with her younger sister for taking so long.  
  
"Phoebe, what do you think you're going to tell the doctors huh? 'Oh sorry doctor we were out at 11pm practising archery in the garden!?' Oh real clever!" she whispered to her so Piper wouldn't hear.  
  
Phoebe thought about this for a minute. "Then what do you suggest?" she asked  
  
"We need to orb him home." She said calmly.  
  
"Home? What good will that do?" Phoebe started.  
  
"Phoebe, please trust me!" Paige sighed.  
  
"Paige, it's not me you'll have to worry about. It's Piper."  
  
"What's taking you two so long! Hurry up!" Piper cried.  
  
Paige walked over, and knelt down beside Piper "Sweetie, talking Leo to the doctor won't work and you know it." Paige said gently. Piper looked away.

"We don't have a choice Paige."

"Yes, we do!"  
  
"What?" Piper asked  
  
"We need to get him home, now and all of you as well." She concluded.  
  
"Paige that's not explaining-" Piper started.  
  
"Piper, I'll explain later!" Paige, gently took Leos hand in hers, and Pipers in her others. "Chris," she looked up at him and into his deep green eyes. "Could you try and orb Auntie Phoebe home with you while I orb your Mommy and Daddy?" Chris nodded silently, walking over to Phoebe and caught her hand he focused and after a few seconds, disappeared with Phoebe.  
  
"Come on Piper." She said gently to her older sister and orbed out.  
  
When they reappeared in The Manor, they saw Chris and Phoebe in a heap on the floor. Phoebe was first up and held her hand out for Chris to help him up. He took her hand and stood up. "You might want to practice the landings honey." She said smiling.  
  
"Wyatt?" Paige called. "Wyatt will you come here? Daddy need's your help" Paige continued shouting this time. A sleepy looking Victor walked out of the living room.  
  
"Girls? You found Chris?" he said, then noticed Leo on the floor. "Oh my god...."  
  
"Dad now's not the time!" Phoebe stated.

Wyatt walked slowly down the stairs rubbing his eyes. "Mommy? What time is it?" he mumbled.  
  
"Wyatt sweetie, will you come here a second. Aunt Paige needs you to help her somehow." Piper said, trying to act happy. Wyatt walked over and saw Leo lying on the ground, suddenly he was wide-awake.  
  
"M-Mommy, is Daddy ok?"  
  
"He's gonna be fine sweetie, don't worry. Now, finally Auntie Paige might tell us what's she's going to do."  
  
"Okay, okay. Well, my theory is.... Um, remember when Cole was stabbed? And he went hours without any help from us? Well, when Leo tried to heal him it wasn't enough because of his demon side too, so he took my hand and the Half-Whitelighter in me helped heal him...I think, if Chris, Wyatt and I try all together... It might be enough. After all, that's 3 part whitelighters; it's got to count for something." She concluded.  
  
Piper and Phoebe looked at each other, both having their doubts, but both knowing they had no other choice.  
  
"But, the boys don't know how to heal..."  
  
"Piper, I think that when it comes to saving their Dad, they'll know how."

Phoebe was now thinking about this herself. "It might work..." she thought "But what if it doesn't...Oh be quiet Phoebe you know it's Leo's only chance, and most of the time Paige's instincts have been right..."

"Okay, I say we try it." Phoebe said aloud.  
  
"Great. What about you Piper?"  
  
"I suppose it's the only chance we've got..." Piper said quietly.

"It is. Wyatt, Chris. This is what I want you to do ok?" she looked over to them as they came and sat down beside her. "Phoebe, could you uh...you know" she said pointing to the two arrows. Chris and Wyatt looked away.  
  
"Um, alright then.." Phoebe said, gently trying to pull the arrows out of Leo.  
  
"Okay, Wyatt, Chris place your hands over Daddy and think of how much you guys love him and want him to get better okay?" she pleaded with them.  
  
Chris was the first to put his hands over Leo, Wyatt quickly followed him and lastly Paige, Piper and Phoebe could see the concentration on all three of their faces. Slowly but surely, a faint soft golden glow appeared after a few minutes.  
  
"Phoebe, what if it's not strong enough?" Piper worried.  
  
"Piper, We could hold onto Paige's free hand..."  
  
"How would that help?" she said through tears.  
  
"Well, that would be The Power of Three, on top of three half Whitelighters. And our love for Leo would flow through them, maybe enhancing the healing power?" She looked at Piper questioningly.

Piper thought about it for a moment or two. "It's worth a shot." She walked over and placed her hand in Paige's. She held out her free hand to Phoebe. Phoebe stepped in next to her, closing her eyes and focusing like the rest of her family. The faint golden glow suddenly glowed brighter and brighter, nearly lighting up the whole room.

Leo could feel himself changing. The light floating feeling seemed to be fading. He felt heavier, and slowly sinking. Chris however felt different, like Leo had been. Light and floating. He looked around him to see a faint white light surrounding him.  
  
"Uh Dad...what's happening to me?" he looked panicked.  
  
Leo smiled slightly. "You're moving on."  
  
"Oh." Was all Chris could say.  
  
"I guess this is goodbye then." Leo looked downwards, in the distance he could see his family crouched over his body. Above him, his son.  
  
"It's never goodbye Dad. I promise. I'll never leave your side, or anyone else's for that matter. I live on in Chris, don't worry, you'll see it all soon enough." He said with a sparkle in his eyes. Tears silently slid down his cheeks. Leo, took one last chance and threw his arms around his now fading son.  
  
"I love you Chris." He cried and kissed his sons head.  
  
"I love you too Dad!"  
  
A burst of light surrounded the two of them. They could see TCO's, Chris and Wyatt, and Victor. Piper, Paige and Phoebe looked up. They saw Chris surrounded by a sparkling white light.  
  
"Goodbye you guys, I love you all. Blessed be...." His voice faded away, along with Chris himself.  
  
Leo's eyes shot open. He looked around. He saw his family. His beautiful wife. His two witty sister-in-laws. His Father in law, smiling- a rare sight. His son Wyatt, looking at him in awe. His eyes landed lastly on Chris. Chris's sparkling green eyes looked right into Leo's 

"_I live on in Chris.... you'll see it all soon enough..."_

A smile spread across Chris's face as he flung his arms around his father.  
  
"Daddy!" Wyatt and Chris shouted in unison. They were quickly followed by shouts from the sisters.  
  
"Leo!" they cried. Piper flung threw her arms around his neck and cried tears of joy. "You're ok! I thought I'd lost you! Oh honey, I love you so much! I'm so sorry!" she cried into his shoulder.  
  
"Piper, it's ok, it's alright. I'm alright, we're alright." He soothed her.  
  
"P-Phoebe...was it just me or did..." Paige stuttered.

"Did I see Chris?" Phoebe finished.  
  
"Yeah..." she said quietly.  
  
"Leo, I saw him, he was there above you when-when we healed you." Piper said through her tears.  
  
"I know honey, I saw him too. He's alright. He's moved on now. Everything is going to be okay now. I promise. I'll never let anything hurt you or our sons ever again. And Chris is always going to be there with us, and in little Chris, he was a part of our lives that we'll never forget."

"I know, I know...I missed him so much you know. And it's comforting to know that he's safe, and he's always been there and always will be. But I'll never forget him, not ever. Do you hear that Mister?" she said looking up towards the ceiling. "I love you, you know!"

"He knows Piper, he knows..." He smiled and looked into his wife's eyes and kissed her gently on the lips.

Chris looked down from the heavens and smiled, he looked around at his ancestors before looking back down. "I know Mom, I know...."

The End  
  
Thanks to evryone who's reviewed along the way, I really appreciated it, you rule!!!!


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